Swann SW242-LP4 DVR4-1100 Compact Digital Video Recorder with 250 GB Hard Drive Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Let me start the review by saying: THIS IS THE ONLY ITEM IN MY AMAZON HISTORY I'VE RETURNED!
That's how many shortcomings I found. Here's the list:
Motion Detection doesn't work well (main feature I wanted)
It has a noisy cooling fan that runs at full speed all the time
The remote control button layout is so bad it is aggrevating to use
It has no ability to record sound
Monitor output supports composite only - No S-Video or VGA
Can't review while recording-Many functions not available while recording
Software is buggy and doesn't provide tools to help review video

The unit is in a nice small metal case, and the locking hard drive tray makes it appear attractive. However, I believe the cosmetic style contributes to the shortcomings. With the small case comes inadequate airflow to cool the hard drive, hence the high speed fan. The hard drive tray holds an EIDE (PATA) hard drive, not a modern SATA drive, and if you are not going to swap drives, just has an extra set of contacts on the plug that can cause problems. When I pulled the tray to look at the hard drive, I found a mounting screw loose and just about to fall out.

The bottom line you should get from this review is to keep looking and pass this one up. You can do much better for the same $$$

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Product Description:
The Swann DVR4-1100 is the affordable recording and monitoring option for your home or business. Simply connect your cameras and start your surveillance setup. The DVR is ideal for use in your home or business to watch over your premises and valuables or to monitor customers, your parking lot, staff or lobby area. Having no tapes to maintain, replace or rewind means this recorder can be setup once and virtually forgotten about until and unless a review of the video becomes necessary. It also dramatically reduces the down time for maintenance or repair that is generally associated with VCR's.Daily Scheduling is an easy to set menu; record when you decide the best time is for your needs. Motion Detection is available for each of the 4 cameras; use all or just a part of what the camera sees to determine the sensitivity of the motion and the recording option.Swann guarantees the DVR4-1100 for One Year parts and labor, handled by Swann Customer Service direct.

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